Foreign tourists on Nguyen Hue walking street in HCM city. (Photo: VNA)

The General Statistics Office reported that more than 11.6 million foreign tourists arrived in Vietnam in the past 11 months, breaking the previous record of more than 10 million. Chinese visitors made up 30 percent, followed by South Koreans with 18 percent.

Visitor Kim Teeling from Australia came to Vietnam for the first time and felt excited with the experience in Hanoi and Ha Long Bay

“Hanoi is busy and beautiful, vibrant and colorful. There’re a lot of people and a lot of energy here. In Hanoi, we just stay around this area. We came to a big fountain when there’re no cars on Friday night. We watched all the children in their bicycles and the cars and we watched people dancing. We watched people singing with microphone karaoke and we watched the water puppet show. We love to be there. We must come to Vietnam because the food is amazing. Your food is unbelievable,” Kim elaborated.

“I have been to Indonesia, Bali, and Singapore. I think Vietnam is working very hard to become a modern nation. It’s noisy, hustle, bustle, too many people. We prefer Hanoi to Sai Gon. Hanoi is calmer than Sai Gon. It is very culturally different,” said Steve Strelsin from the UK.

A report published in June by the United Nations World Tourism Organization ranked Vietnam’s tourism growth at seventh globally, and the country was the only destination in Southeast Asia to crack the top 10.